Sail Away

We finally got some artwork put up on the wall and it looks so much better in the dining room!  It's amazing how artwork can instantly change a space's vibe.

Chris and I went up to Provo a few weeks back to go swimming tanning up at one of the public pools.  Across the street they had the Saturday Market going, so we decided to stop there first and check it out. I was quite pleasantly surprised.  They had lots of good looking produce and a whole strip to wander of local crafts.  There were also some food carts that looked delicious!  Chris and I had just eaten, so we vowed to come back and try the wood fired pizza another weekend (we did and it was so nommy).

Chris actually has a coworker that sells wooden owl clocks at the market, so we stopped to shoot the breeze with him for a bit.  The booth next to him was selling paintings, so I meandered over there after a few minutes.  I chatted with the booth owner and he told me that his sister and her friend are the painters and they both live down in Australia.  She actually ships them up to family here to sell at the markets.  They had tons of beautiful work.

As I was digging through I spotted this little gem.

A little further down the pile I found this guy.

Bingo.  Next up, convince Chris that they are completely necessary.

Luckily, that didn't take much as he enjoys a good beach scene as well.  Good news is they were much cheaper than the Pier 1 boat picture I had fallen in love with the week prior and they were actually the real deal, not duplicates.

After we got them safely home, I had to figure out how I was going to hang them.   Being canvas with texture, I really didn't want to frame them.  I thought about putting them on top of painted MDF, but realized that was going to be super heavy.  Best way was going to be making a frame and wrapping them like most canvas paintings usually are.  Practicality beat creativeness.

I hit the local Home Depot and purchased a few pine boards.

When I got them home I realized I was still scared of the saw even though Chris had showed me how to use it a few weeks back.  Someday I will get over my fear, but until then he gets to do all the cutting.

He measured them all up and created two of these frames for me.

Next step was the fun part.  Staple gun!

I went a little nuts on the staples, but I swear it was necessary to keep the canvas from puffing up.

Finally, the moment of truth.  I hammered a few nails in the wall and voila!

Aren't they marvelous?  I can't believe how perfectly the colors fit into the rest of the dining room.  

It's actually beginning to come together downstairs.  Yay!